The Afterlife
by Orwell is watching-xoxo
Summary: Sequel to: You Made a Believer Out of Me: Vince Faraday always kept his promises. And if that meant risking his life for a dead girl, so be it. He would keep his word 'til the day he dies. And maybe even after that. Vinwell.
1. Among the Dead

**And now that I've started up three WIP's again, I think my sanity has made that left turn at Albuquerque. Oh well. If anyone sees her, can you point her in the right direction? **

**Anyways, this is the follow up to: You Made a Believer Out of Me, as requested by a few fellow reviewers. **

**I own nothing. **

_**The Afterlife- Chapter One: Among the Dead**_

Ever since Vince left the haunted castle tour, he had been having particularly frightening nightmares. The sandy blonde cop was a horror movie buff for sure, but it was different when you were the one that was living in the horror movie. He often times woke up in a cold sweat, not really sure if it was safe to open his eyes in his own bedroom. The fear that he had felt that afternoon came back again and again in his dreams. He could hear Jamie's shrieks when Conrad would come up to reenact her death. These nightmares never ceased to scare the living daylights out of Vince and anyone who came in contact with the police officer knew that he wasn't getting a healthy night's sleep. The purple hues and bags under his eyes were proof of that.

One night, he just gave up on sleeping after waking up from a haunting dream. It hadn't been his usual nightmare; Jamie had started appearing in his _apartment_ in this dream. She still managed to scream and keep him up all night, which was the eerie part. Little things in his apartment started to go missing; either that or they were moved to the other side of the room. It. Was. Creepy.

Vince sat up in bed, looking around the room to make sure that it _had_ been a dream. Feeling no presence, he scooted out of the covers and rubbed his face groggily. He knew that there was only one way to get these dreams to stop. It hadn't even been more than a week since he'd been to the castle tour, but his subconscious was telling him that he'd never get a decent night's sleep until he rescued his ghost princess. The twenty-three-year-old _wanted_ to go back there and help her, but he just had no idea of how to start. Not to mention that those nightmares didn't help him think straight…

Now that he was finally going to do something, what would that _something_ be? He could always do what his baby sis did and start researching. If he was going to be dealing with setting a ghost free, he needed to learn what that all entailed. Vince plopped down in the computer chair he had set up in the corner of his bedroom next to his bed and began to boot his ancient tower up.

After smacking himself a few times to stay awake, the police officer decided to brew a small pot of coffee. His computer would take _forever_ to boot up, unfortunately. (Vince was a mama's boy; when he got her old tower from when she upgraded to a newer one, he couldn't turn her down.) A few minutes later, he plopped back down in the chair as he waited for his coffee to finish brewing. Of course, the computer was still loading at the time. _Now what?_ Vince mused to himself.

Well, the twenty-three-year-old was sure that he would need a pencil and some paper to jot some of this stuff down on. 'Cause there was no way in hell that he would remember most of these exorcism terms. He grabbed a notepad from on top of his printer and stole a pencil from in between the "F" keys and the number keys on the keyboard. _Finally_, he thought to himself as he stole a glance back at the monitor, which showed his desktop picture. The cop let out a sigh; his sister must have had something to do with this. Last time Vince checked, his desktop was of his favorite superhero the Cape. Now it was of some weird symbol. Leslie was… an odd duck; that was for sure. They shared an apartment to save money and he noticed that she picked up some strange habits. Like, for instance, she always wore pentagrams, and she cleansed their apartment on a daily basis, claiming that it was to get all of the day's bad energy out. And, despite his family's devout Christian beliefs, she was starting to get more into the Wiccan belief.

Maybe she could help him out with the ghost research, who knew?

But, until then, the police officer was on his own. Vince poured himself a mug of coffee and clicked on the Internet Explorer icon. He groaned as he waited for the webpage to load. Not only did he have an outdated Windows, but he also had an outdated internet connection.

Once his homepage loaded, he went onto the Google search engine and typed in "Exorcism". The blonde snorted to himself as he saw all of the movies that were related to the subject on the results page. The movies were good, of course, but he was looking for the real thing, as much as that thought scared him.

The first thing that he clicked on was a Catholic encyclopedia's link to Exorcism. Vince tilted his head back as he slugged the first bit of his scalding hot coffee. Most of this was gibberish to him, so he went onto another site. This one basically was the simplified version of the page he went to previously. Apparently he would need a priest to do a "simple exorcism" to cleanse the castle. Okay. But how the hell would he go about asking a Catholic priest to do an exorcism for him. One, he _wasn't_ Catholic, and two; he didn't know anybody that _was_.

Vince groaned in annoyance and began to jot down what he felt he needed. Not even the coffee was helping at this point. After about a week of restless sleeping patterns, the only thing that your body could really take was rest. Within the next few minutes, his gave into the temptation and he passed out from pure exhaustion. Not even his nose dipping into the remaining coffee he had left woke him up. The only dreams that he could remember _were_ of Jamie, but they weren't haunting nightmares. Those dreams painted a picture of what it would have been like if the ghost bride was alive today. Warm flesh, warm lips, soft hair, firm waist against his…

"Vince!" he heard someone call in his sleep. What was originally Jamie's voice as he slid in and out of her rhythmically, kissing her hungrily, turned into the annoying whine of his kid sister, shaking him awake.

"Vince, wake up!" Leslie tried again, growing rather aggravated at her older brother.

The cop finally jolted awake, trying to cover up his bulging pants. He didn't even know where that dream came from! Sure, Jamie was a pretty girl… ghost… whatever, but he never thought of her that way before. Or, at least, his conscious mind never had. When he finally looked up at his sister, he immediately caught on to the fact that he fell asleep at his desk last night.

Leslie Faraday was a short, skinny type with eyes that mirrored her brother's. She flipped her blonde tendrils off of her shoulders and stared down at him. "What were you doing last night? There's cold coffee in the pot, and I find you sleeping at the computer desk."

"Sorry," Vince groaned, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. "I was looking up something when I fell asleep." For a minute, he could have sworn that the tables were reversed. Now _she_ was acting like the older sibling.

"Vince," the petite Faraday spared her brother a smile as she sat down on the corner of his bed, "we both know that you haven't been sleeping well. Were you looking up something that had to do with that fact?" she asked, nudging towards the notebook and pencil by the keyboard.

"Sorta," the older blonde mumbled. "Would you call me crazy if I said that I believe in ghosts?"

Leslie gave him her famous "duh" look. "No. You see all the shit I've done before. Would you really think I would be a skeptic?"

Vince chuckled weakly, smiling back at his sister's expression. "Okay, well would you call me crazy if I said that I knew a ghost that needed my help getting out of a loop?"

"Like on Ghost Whisperer?" the younger blonde beamed exuberantly. "That's so cool!"

"Sorta like on Ghost Whisperer, but sorta different. Remember when mom, dad, and me went to the castle tour last week?" the older sibling asked, happy to get his mind off of that _dream_.

Leslie bobbed her head. "But I was busy with work. What about it?" Then her eyes lit up as the light bulb clicked on in her mind. "Oh! Did you see Jamie Fleming's ghost?"

Vince nodded before continuing, "And Conrad's too. Jamie's spirit… it's so much different than his. His is violent and angry, and hers is timid and tormented. She even _told_ me that Conrad is what's keeping her here."

"That's kinda creepy, Vince. She actually _talked_ to you?" the younger one asked, her blue eyes wide with curiosity.

"Yeah. And then I was beaten up by Conrad. Never saw him, but I knew he was there. Unless Jamie had telekinesis or some crap like that," the curly blonde cop responded, wincing at the thought of the bruises and scratches that had taken forever to heal.

"Wow. So Conrad's back with a vengeance. But why?" Leslie replied, even more curious than before.

"To make his dead bride's afterlife a living hell? Beats me, baby sis," Vince leaned back in his seat, propping up his legs next to his sister on the corner of his bed. "All I know is that, he torments her every day by reenacting her death. She's lonely and frightened up there. I just… I can't let her stay like that."

His little sister's eyes sparkled, just like they always did when she was about to tease him for something. "Oh really?"

The police officer groaned, not even having to hear what she had to say about it. "Les, it's not like that. She's a ghost!"

"Stranger things have happened, Vince," Leslie winked at her brother before dodging a shoe he threw at her head. "Hey! You should be nicer to me! Your baby sis can help you get your little girlfriend free…"

Vince stared at the petite girl. "I'm listening."

o—o—o

Jamie never expected Vince to come back for her. Everything had been the way it was before, only now Conrad seemed to be more vengeful. He would put in an extra beating or two before he would kill her. And she just had to take it, even though she really didn't know why she was getting beat up for something that was out of her control.

Which was why, when she heard two distinct human voices come into the castle later on that night, she was surprised. Touring hours were over, which meant that no one was allowed in, not even the nice property caretakers. Who could possibly be breaking protocol to come into the castle at night, where Conrad Chandler was always at his meanest?

The twenty-three-year-old and his twenty-year-old sister had come prepared. Leslie had cleansed many places before. While not a lot of these places were as haunted as this castle, she still felt like she could take on the world. Unfortunately, that was where her downfall was.

The dead bride padded over to the stair railing on the upper floor and gawked down at her guests. Her eyes grew wide as she saw Vince and his little sister. Why he had to choose a dangerous time was beyond her. Okay, so he did introduce himself as the world's most stubborn man, but still. Did he not learn from the first time?

Vince looked up and saw the silhouette of the brunette ghost, feeling the same eerie chill that he had felt before. "There she is, Les. She's… shy, just remember that."

"Vince, I'm not going to hurt her," the twenty-year-old replied as she pulled a book out from where it had been tucked under her arm.

Jamie saw the book in Leslie's hands and slowly began to back away. If Conrad knew what her plans were…

"Wifey, I thought I told you no more visitors," came from behind her in a raspy, angry voice.

The brunette turned around to face her dead groom. "Please Conrad, just leave them alone."

"This is our play box, not theirs," Conrad growled, moving so quickly to the stairwell that it looked like he was gliding there.

Leslie handed over one of her herbs to her brother. This one, when lit, was said to ward off any evil spirits. "You got that lighter in your pocket, right?" she asked him quietly.

The cop nodded absent mindedly as he dug into his jeans pocket for the lighter. "So, once I light this, I just have to wave it around, like you do at home?"

"Mhm," his sister agreed. "But do it in fluid movements. If you wave it around vigorously, the spirit will come right to you."

Vince sighed. "Remind me _not_ to ask you how you know all of this, Les."

Just as he lit the herb, she began a long chant. This chant was in a foreign language to the curly blonde cop. And he didn't even know that Leslie knew it, either. He remembered to keep his motions fluid as they both made their rounds through the castle.

Jamie couldn't believe what they were doing. While she appreciated the male human's honesty, she seriously wished that he would have left her alone. That would _never_ work.

Vince marched up on the stairwell, scared for his life. Apparently the chant would keep the spirits from hurting either of them, but that thought was still unnerving. When he stepped up on the second floor, he was practically nose-to-nose with the dead bride. "Hi Jamie," he smiled at her.

"You really shouldn't be here. Conrad's planning something, but I don't know what it is," the brunette ghost replied, scared for her human's well-being.

"He can't hurt us as long as my sister's chanting right?" the police officer gave her a much gentler smile as he passed around her. "I'll keep you safe."

By the time that Leslie finished her chant, Jamie was proven right. The petite blonde was sent flying across the room, just as Vince had been that week prior.

"I can't believe that you would think that a stupid little chant like that would stop me," Conrad said in his raspy voice. Neither human could see him, but Jamie stood close by, staring ahead at the space in front of Vince. Before he could move, he was sent flying just like his sister.

"Conrad!" the dead bride cried out. He looked back at her, as she knew he would. "Please just let them go. _I_ summoned them," she lied. "They came without a single protest."

The police officer looked up at Jamie, who was just as scared as he was, only even more so. She had to _live_ with this bastard. God knew what all he did to her besides reenact her death…

"You sent them?" the dead groom fumed, floating over her as his eyes bored into hers.

"Could you blame me? I _hate _you! You murdered me on the day that was supposed to be the happiest day of my life!" the brunette spat back, despite how truly afraid she was. She just hoped that those two would take the hint and leave already.

As Conrad began throwing his dead bride around like a lifeless ragdoll, Vince got up and helped his sister to her feet. And just as before, he had to leave Jamie Fleming to defend herself, fighting himself the entire way. There was nothing that he could have done in that moment. It was now time for drastic measures, as much as he hated to admit it.

**So, fairly lengthy chapter to start off a story. Huh. Oh well. Let me know what you thought. **


	2. My Immortal

**Another new update, yay! Vince is being a dummy like usual and Jamie gets the start of what could be her happily ever after.**

**At this time, I'd like to thank: XxDeathStarxX, IronAmerica, and Troll99 for their reviews last chapter. Also, I'd like to mention the mythology of my ghosts. If ghosts can touch humans and we can feel them touching us, then I believe they can do the same with the other ghosts. **

**I do not own The Cape. **

_**The Afterlife- Chapter Two: My Immortal**_

Church was important to Vince, but he never thought that he'd step into one of them with this much dread settled into the pit of his stomach. He had just watched his baby sister get thrown halfway across the room by something that neither of them could see. That alone was enough to scare the living shit out of any non believer and scar them mentally for life. But then there was Jamie, the beautiful damsel in distress that looked like she had never been truly happy in her short twenty-one years of life. That was like witnessing a child getting beaten; it did things to your head and liked to repeat again and again.

Vince knew that he had only one more choice in this. If he didn't call on the higher ups, something bad was bound to happen. He could have wasted more time on calling mediums to cleanse the place, but it was just friggen' useless. But now, as he padded down the aisle of the Catholic Church, he was wondering to himself just how crazy this plan really _was. _

_Yeah, Father, I'm sorta trying to rescue this ghost girl that I kinda have the hots for… Can you help me do an exorcism? 'Cause the guy that killed her is _really_ pissed off at the moment… _

The twenty-three-year-old smiled to himself. Oh, yeah. That was a solid plan, alright. He had never stepped a foot into a Catholic Church before, but he had seen some in movies and photographs. When he saw a little closed off box of some kind, he automatically knew what it was for.

As Vince peeked inside, he was surprised to find it empty. Huh. Guess everyone got all of their confessions out on Sunday. Now where was he supposed to go? He turned on his heels, only to jump back when he saw an elderly man with the telltale black suit on.

"May I help you?" the priest, who was known as Father Gabriel, asked as he watched the younger man's movements very warily.

Vince shifted from one foot to the other, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "I, um, need your help with something, Father. I know that I'm nowhere near being Catholic but, please."

"Has something happened?" The priest noticed that the cop was sporting bags under his eyes, which worried him no less.

The younger man nodded and nervously began telling the story of how the Fleming/Chandler kingdom was haunted by two very powerful spirits. Vince was just waiting for the priest to leave, either rolling his eyes or shaking his head at the blue-eyed cop. He did turn around to leave, but not because he didn't believe him. As he turned around, the priest made a motion for the younger man to follow him.

Vince, in turn, followed rather reluctantly. He was rather confused, but things became clearer when Father Gabriel brought out his bible. _Oh my God, he actually believed me? _

"If the spirits are as strong as you say that they are, it's a good thing that you've come to me," Gabriel began, flipping through a particular page in his book.

"Now… I know I've seen this in movies, but I highly doubt that it's the same as the real thing," Vince did a double take back at the priest as he looked up from his book, "it's not. Is it?"

"Well… I'm sure that the dramatizations _try _to have similarities with the real events, but nothing will be like the real thing. It's…." Gabriel shook his head a bit, trying to find the right words, "it's very traumatic, if I must be honest. No one can reenact something like this to the fullest."

The curly blonde tried to swallow the heavy lump in his throat. Those words repeated in his mind like a broken record, much to his annoyance. "This is my last resort, Father. If you can't help, I don't believe anyone can."

o—o—o

"You called on a priest. Do you _know_ that there's a chance of a demonic possession while he's doing that?" Leslie Faraday sat on hers and her brother's couch with crossed arms, completely unimpressed. "And what happens when you do that, Vince? What're you gonna do then?"

"Whoa, baby sis, why are you attacking _me_ all of a sudden?" Vince threw his hands up in defense. What was up with her? She just started questioning him when he got back to the apartment and it all went to hell in a hand basket.

"Because I don't want you getting hurt! I kinda thought that you were kidding when you said that you were gonna call on a priest. Is the safety of one ghost _really_ worth risking your life?" Leslie sat up, annoyance stripped from her face as she sat her hands on her knees. Her brother looked in her eyes and could tell that she was genuinely concerned.

"Les… I can't tell you why I'm doing this. I thought that it was just me being a good man, but ever since last night, Jamie's been in my head constantly. 'specially in my dreams," the blue-eyed cop wrung his hands thoughtfully, not really sure if he should look up at his sister.

"Oh my God. Vince, are you trying to say that you're falling for a ghost girl?" the younger Faraday asked with her eyebrows quirking up just a bit.

"I… can't explain it. It's like I've known her for much longer, or from somewhere completely different," Vince finally looked up at his sister; a sigh escaped his lips a moment later.

"Maybe you two were together in a previous life? Who knows, maybe all of them, if the feelings are so strong that you're contemplating risking your life for a dead girl." Leslie couldn't believe all of this. She knew that her brother was a hambone head, but this was just friggen' ridiculous. Well, at least his heart was in the right place…

"Is that sorta stuff possible? And if it was, would I be able to remember?" Vince ran a hand through his curly mop of hair and shook it vigorously in thought.

"I dunno. Maybe it's just your past lives leaking in. I've heard a lot about that," the twenty-year-old tugged on a blonde tendril, twirling and unwinding it in her finger.

Her brother let out a groan. Love was complicated, especially when you were falling in love with a dead girl. "I sound crazy, don't I?" He cradled his head in his hands, looking back up at his sister occasionally.

Leslie just patted her brother on the back. "To mom and dad? You bet. To me? No."

Vince groaned into his hands and shifted closer to his sister. "Les, just kill me now."

o—o—o

Jamie couldn't take much more of her dead groom. He never left her side, it seemed. And if he did, she was expected to stay in the room until he came back. If she didn't, her death would be reenacted more than just once. And that didn't even count the beatings that she got otherwise….

She resented Vince for coming back for her. He meant well and she appreciated it, but… it only got her hurt in the end. The more frequent the visitors were that wanted to separate Jamie and Conrad, the more beatings she got for being a _bad_ girl. When she saw him again, the brunette thought about lunging for him and shoving him out the door. He didn't need to be here! If his other two plans didn't work, what made him think that this would work? Of course, that was before she saw Father Gabriel with him.

The ghost saw her human's last resort and self consciously started backing up to the double French doors leading out to the balcony. She did _not_ want to be a witness to all of this. Conrad hated religious affiliates, even when he was alive. But, now, they were a _threat_. He didn't want to go anywhere, and he wasn't without a fight.

Before she could get to the doors, she felt a set of arms wrap around her. In the same instance, disdain settled into the pit of her stomach. She knew all too well who that was.

"You know, dearest, that one is starting to get on my nerves," Conrad rasped into her ear, tightening his grip around her. "What to do about him…?"

"He wants you to leave me alone, Conrad," Jamie began, using all of her strength to keep her voice from wavering.

"Does he now? Well… we'll have to do something about that," the dead groom growled, which turned into a hiss when he saw the priest, "what the _hell_ is he doing here?"

The brunette bride stayed quiet and smoothed down her tattered skirt. She just hoped that this last plan would work. A tiny smile crawled on her pale face as she thought about living the rest of her afterlife in Heaven. It sounded nice. Being surrounded by all of her deceased relatives, like her parents. She couldn't wait to see them again.

Conrad scowled down at his dead bride and smacked her in the mouth. "You don't smile at anyone but me; got it?"

Jamie wriggled her way out of her groom's arms and floated out of the room. She knew that she wasn't supposed to but dammit, she wanted out of there!

As she did so, she came up on Father Gabriel, who was telling all of the spirits in this place that they couldn't live there anymore. And that they were unwelcome. The brunette wasn't going to argue by any means necessary. Conrad, on the other hand…

Vince didn't know what he was supposed to be doing, exactly. The priest had his bible and he was doing his chants, but all the police officer could really do was sit on the sidelines. And he _hated_ it.

Jamie stopped in front of her knight in shining armor and stared at him for a moment. She wondered why he was doing this for her. She definitely wasn't anyone special.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, a little timidly.

"Because I can't stand seeing a pretty girl like you getting hurt," the cop smiled down at her. His whole body registered the cold air that was associated with a ghost, but he didn't really care about it. To him, she was just his.

Conrad came up on the lighthearted moment and hissed under his breath. Normally he didn't show himself to the humans, but at this point he didn't care. How was he losing his woman to a _human_? Vince had nothing for her! His heart was beating, hers wasn't.

The tuxedo clad ghost snarled as he broke into the dead bride and her human's reverie. "What is going on here, hmm?"

"I never married you, Conrad. So I don't have to cleave only unto you, thanks very much," Jamie smiled at her groom. She knew that that would set him off, but at least he'd be focused on her and not Father Gabriel.

"I know what you're trying to do," Conrad fumed, balling a fist. "But it won't work this time, wifey." He stared down at the floorboard, smirking as it came undone right before him. The brunette watched in horror as the floorboard flew across the room and knocked into Father Gabriel. The priest didn't stop chanting, though, if anything, he put more emphasis in the words.

Jamie and Vince exchanged fearful glances. Both of them knew that this wasn't going to end well for anyone.

The groom's ghost began to lift more floorboards and began throwing them at both Vince and the priest. The war had started, and Conrad was trying to make sure that there were _no_ survivors. Both humans dodged the first ones, but they knew that it wouldn't happen like that with the rest. Vince made a quick decision and began blocking the blows from hitting Father Gabriel. While that kept the priest safe, the police officer was getting pummeled by twice the amount of wooden floorboards. His whole face was covered in blood and his clothes were getting there, but they were mostly torn apart.

"LEAVE THIS PLACE, SPIRITS! MOVE ON TO WHERE YOU BELONG!" Both men translated the last little bit in English and looked up to both ghosts. Conrad was moving closer to them, but you could tell that he had weakened a great deal. Vince met with Jamie's eyes, which were still full of fear. He felt as she placed a hand on his chest and gave where his heart should be a gentle squeeze.

"LEAVE! YOU ARE NO LONGER WANTED IN THIS CASTLE!" Father Gabriel shouted, which seemed to, finally, do the trick. The feeling of cold dread had completely subsided and was replaced by a feeling of hope.

The police officer placed his hand right where Jamie's had been a moment ago and smiled one of the gentlest smiles Gabriel had ever seen. "Thanks, Father. I couldn't have done this without you."

The priest nodded and sent the cop a smile of his own. "It was my pleasure, dear boy. Now, if I may, I'd like one of my nurses to see to your wounds."

Vince touched his face and winced audibly. "Yeah, that'll be good."

Father Gabriel nodded promptly and shut his book, tucking it under his arm. "Good. Come then, I'll drive back."

The curly haired cop followed the priest out of the castle, still thinking of Jamie. He would miss her; that was for sure. At least she was safe, wherever she was.

**Hey, I'm not done yet, you know. This story will be a total of ten chapters. Any idea of what's gonna happen next? Drop a line and let me know!**


	3. Love Is Like a Battlefield

**Hey all, here's a new chapter! **

**Many thanks to IronAmerica, XxDeathStarxX, and Troll99 for their reviews last chapter. **

**I own nothing. **

_**The Afterlife- Chapter Three: Love is Like a Battlefield**_

Vince shifted closer to the middle of his bed, groaning in pain. He felt like he had been hit by a couple of Mack trucks, versus being thrown around by a ghost and being pummeled by wooden floorboards. Not to mention, his sister had smacked him when he came home that night. She warned him about getting hurt and then he came home all black and blue. Leslie had agreed to bring him something if he needed it, but somehow the twenty-three-year-old was thinking that there was a catch somewhere in between the lines.

He buried his face further into his pillow as he tried to find his comfort zone once again. It wasn't exactly easy, especially since his mind was starting to wander to places where it probably shouldn't have been going. Vince was starting to wonder about his ghost girl and how she was getting along on her own. Where _did_ those spirits go after they moved on? Did they go to Heaven or Hell just like he was always taught?

Vince figured that he was thinking too much into it; she was long gone by now. And, after all, there was no need to cry over spilt milk. The curly blonde let out a rough sigh, one that was prematurely stopped on the count of pressure settling against his back. It didn't hurt, as a matter of fact, it was cold. His breath hitched a bit in his chest after that, becoming too afraid to turn around to see what was going on. The last time he felt something like that, he was dealing with a ghost.

Who in the world was bothering him now? Hadn't he had enough with the paranormal for the week? But then it occurred to him that he had been involved with two different cleansings. The imaginary curtain that had separated the living from the dead had been opened; anything could have gotten through there at that time. And, consequently, anything could have followed him home.

Vince took a deep breath, finally preparing himself to flip over to see if he really _wasn't_ alone. When he did, his eyes widened at the sight before him. Jamie had her head resting on the edge of her pillow, obviously trying to sleep. She had curled into the cop's back, trying to find her comfort zone in her new home.

"Jamie… is that really you?" the twenty-three-year-old asked rather breathlessly.

The brunette ghost gave him one of her infamous "duh" looks. "No. I'm _really_ just a figment of your imagination."

Vince didn't know how to respond to that. He was so incredibly happy to see her, but he was halfway expecting this to be some bad dream that he would be waking up from at any moment. "What… what're you doing here? Did the exorcism go wrong?" he babbled on.

Jamie grew closer, a tiny smile playing at her lips. "No, silly. It worked just fine," she tapped him on the lips, which sent chills down his spine. "I'm here with you because you saved me."

It drove the cop wild that she could touch him all she wanted to, but he couldn't reciprocate without his hands cutting straight through thin air. Vince squirmed a little as the air started to grow a little colder. "Is it just you that's here?"

The brunette shook her head. "It's not Conrad, if that's what you're worried about. But… your apartment complex is haunted. So there are a lot of ghosts that could stop by unannounced."

Her human couldn't help but groan. "Wonderful. And this is where I ask if I can trade them all in for vampires. At least vampires have to be invited inside. Ghosts just walk through entrances."

Jamie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Vince didn't know why at first, but then it hit him that she probably had no idea what a vampire _was._

"Don't think into that too much, okay? That was just me being weird," he smiled over at her rather warmly. That smile only grew broader as the ghost nestled herself against his arm. Sure, there was only the pressure of her body lying on his arm and the cold air that surrounded them, but it wasn't _that_ bad. He could definitely get used to this; all it would take was a blanket and the temperature problem would be solved.

The problem that _couldn't_ so easily be solved was the fact that he was in love with a ghost. He couldn't show her off to his parents because they wouldn't believe him. And, even if they did, it wasn't very likely that they'd accept her as _the_ one for Vince. He couldn't marry Jamie; they couldn't have kids, hell he couldn't even touch her. As bad as all of that sounded, he just couldn't let her go.

"You look a little out of it," Jamie began, intruding into her human's thoughts. She looked so calm, which baffled him to no end. Not even twenty-four hours before that, she was a damsel in distress that wanted nothing more than to be set free. And now here she was, curled up against his arm peacefully. Could she feel the same way that he felt about her? The cop didn't think that it was very likely, considering his luck with women. Although…

Vince smiled over at his ghost girl, wanting to touch her some kind of bad. Even if it was just to run his fingers through her brown locks that would be enough. "Yeah, I was just thinking about some stuff," he finally answered.

"What kind of stuff?" the brunette asked. Her big brown eyes were wide with curiosity. It definitely meant something to the cop to see this girl so lively.

"Boring stuff," Vince shrugged, a chuckle escaping his lips soon after. "Nah, mostly just about us." He saw the look that she gave him, which prompted him to sigh before adding, "Okay, I'm worried about us not working out."

"Because I'm a ghost and you're a human?" Jamie was obviously wounded by that thought. She had thought about the same thing. They were now bound together, which meant that they'd already be with each other for eternity. But still… maybe he _did_ have a point. "Sure, I'm with you for the rest of my afterlife, but that doesn't mean that we have to spend it as a couple, Vince. I can even make it so that you cannot see me."

"Why would I want that?" Vince asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What kind of man would I be if I let the woman that I'm in love with disappear from my sight? I didn't get that priest to do the exorcism just for my health, you know."

"If I can't be everything that you want me to be, then why should we even torture ourselves with the thought?" the brunette pulled away to lean back on her own pillow. Sorrow was evident on her face, which made it worse for the cop, who knew that he couldn't comfort her in the way that he wanted to.

"Jamie, I want us to work out. In fact, I really don't care that the odds aren't in our favor. We'll beat the odds with flying colors. So what if we can't get married? You're going to be with me until the day I die, anyways, so who needs a certificate to tell us what we already know? And… yeah, I've often times thought about kids, but I'd rather have you," the curly haired human smiled over at his ghost girl, hoping that he helped, at least some.

Jamie just stared over at her human for a few moments. When she was about to open her mouth to respond, a whiney voice came from the other side of the door.

"Vince, who the hell are you talking to at this hour?!"

The brunette met with his eyes, to which he mouthed "my sister" and nudged his head towards the door.

"Nobody! I'm talking to myself, bad habit, I know!" he called out to his sister.

Leslie rolled her eyes. "Whatevs, bro! Go to sleep!"

Vince sent his sister a thumbs up from his side of the door. "Roger dodger, Les."

Leslie shut her bedroom door, and the ghost girl and her human exchanged glances once again. This was going to be hard to get this to work, but the cop definitely wasn't giving up so quickly.

o—o—o

A week later, things weren't much easier for the new couple, but they were surely trying their hardest. Vince let his sister in on the secret so that she didn't think that he was but _so_ insane. That being said, if there was anyone that would understand about being different, it would be Leslie Faraday. And, while she was upset about not being able to be an aunt in the future, she still respected her brother's wishes. Leslie actually enjoyed having a ghost in the family. Jamie was shy towards the youngest Faraday child, which only encouraged her more.

Vince hadn't forgotten what his ghost girl told him about his apartment complex being haunted. When he had mentioned this to Leslie, she knew exactly what Jamie was talking about. Two of the ghosts were from their school, as a matter of fact. Dana Thompson lived in the apartment complex with her parents and older sister years before the Faraday siblings moved in. Her high school sweetheart Dominic Raoul would come to visit her practically every day, despite her parents' disapproval.

Sadly enough, the two of them were killed coming home from their senior prom. Too many underage drinkers were out at the same time that night and… it didn't end well for those two. Leslie had seen the high school sweethearts roaming through the halls, looking to get into trouble since she and the older blonde had moved in. The ghosts weren't bad by any means; they were just funny as hell. If there was any practical joking done throughout the building, those two were probably to blame.

The first time that Vince had seen them, he couldn't believe his eyes. They were ecstatic to learn about the new ghoul in the apartment complex and grew rather protective over her fairly quickly.

Now, what did that mean for her human? He didn't think that this would be a big deal; at least Jamie had someone that could relate to her, it had to be pretty hard on her to be surrounded by humans, something that she could never be again. Only, Vince didn't realize that Dana and Dominic had their own hidden agendas.

Those two wanted nothing more than to move on with their undead lives. Sure, it was great to scare the other residents, but they actually wanted to settle into life with their own kind. When they found Jamie in the apartment a few doors down from theirs, their first instinct was to check her out. Neither of them got a long with the other ghosts around the apartment building, so they thought that this would be the same situation. (That was the problem with the ghosts that didn't want to move on quite yet, they were all so snobby to the other ghosts! But Dana and Dominic were having their own fun tormenting the hell out of said ghosts and the humans they surrounded themselves with.) Little did they know that the twenty-one-year-old ghost would come to be something like a younger sister to them.

It came to be a daily thing that the high school sweethearts would stop by the Faraday apartment. At first, it didn't bother Vince at all. But when Dominic started to have a little bit _too_ much fun picking on him, things finally started taking a toll. Not to mention the fact that they were starting to talk about taking Jamie with them to the underworld. Only problem was that she couldn't go without Vince.

And _that_ was where the biggest problem was in and of itself.

o—o—o

"You really can't leave without him?" Dana asked Jamie, pouting in disapproval. She sat on the kitchen counter in the Faraday apartment with her arms crossed. It was actually quite a sight; what could be seen of her was her floor-length dress that had jagged rips through the stomach from her fatal wounds. Vince would have thought that he was insane if it hadn't been for the fact that there were others out there with concrete proof that he wasn't just seeing things.

"No. The reason why I'm still here is because I'm tied to him, for whatever reason. We believe that it may be our feelings for each other, but we're still not sure," the ghost bride explained calmly. She was sitting on her human, who was silently driving himself nuts over the fact that he couldn't put his arms around the girl in his lap without going through thin air.

"Well that's no fun," Dana let out a melodramatic sigh and turned to her boyfriend, who hoisted himself up on the counter next to her. "Guess it'll just be you and me," her eyes widened as an idea came to mind. "Unless something happens to Vince. Then they can both come with us!"

The elder Faraday sibling was taking a rather long pull from his bottle of beer when the strawberry blonde ghost's words registered in his mind. "WHAT?!" He rasped through the liquid that slid down his throat, not expecting _that_ scenario.

"Pipe down li'l gnome and let the bird finish," Dominic teased the human with a triumphant grin. He looked back at his girlfriend, silently telling her to go on.

"Oh c'mon, Vince. It'll be fine! You'll be with your girl. You won't have to worry about being a human, or everything that comes with that. And…" Dana smiled over at her ghost and reached over to grab his hand, "you can touch her all you want."

"And what about my family?" Vince asked, his tone quivering just a little as he thought about his parents and his sister. What would they do without him?

"That's the whole thing about death; you don't have to tell anyone. Say your final goodbyes. At least you have the chance to…" the teenaged ghost looked down at the rips in her dress with a sad expression, tracing them idly with a finger.

The human in the group felt like an asshole at the moment. They didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones… But, really, what would that make him seem like if he agreed to leave all of his family behind just to be with a girl? What would Leslie say about that? He promised Jamie that he would do anything to make this work, but at what cost? He loved her, he knew that, but… he loved his family, too.

He and Jamie exchanged glances; the ghost bride didn't want her human to do this for her. She could deal with living with him if he was alive. His happiness meant too much to her. He had done so much for her; it was _her_ turn to return the favor.

"So, wot's it gonna be?" Dominic asked Vince and his ghost, who had no idea what to say.

**Well how was it? Drop me a review and let me know what**_** you**_** think they should decide on!**


	4. Let's Play a Love Game

**Hey-o! There's a new chapter afoot! By popular demand, I have added two more chapters ahead of the original plot. Hope everyone enjoys!**

**Many thanks go to all who reviewed last chapter!**

**I own nothing.**

_**The Afterlife: Chapter Four- Let's Play a Love Game**_

__Vince knew the day would come that his parents would try to pick a wife for him; it was obvious that he wasn't looking for any women right now, but there was a good reason, not that he could tell his parents this. The elder Faradays just assumed he would never find a decent bride if they didn't spring into action. If only they knew that he _had_ found that bride, but it was just… complicated.

Jamie was still with him, of course. She told Dana and Dominic to give them a little while longer before deciding whether they'd travel to the underworld with them. The human tried to keep the fact that his parents were trying to hook him up with a girl under wraps, the last thing that he needed was for that to get out to his girlfriend. Or worse, his girlfriend's ghost friends. Her friends were already protective over her, and if they found out that there might have been a chance that her heart would be broken, Vince would be seeing little stars for the rest of eternity.

Needless to say, Vince was in quite the pickle. Especially when Leslie came back to the apartment with a woman, that Mrs. Faraday had sent to woo her little boy over. Now the cop's main objective was to get this woman _out _of the apartment before any of the friendly neighborhood ghouls could see her.

o—o—o

Jamie was being a snoop, but she didn't really care. She had her body pressed thin against the corner wall that led to the living room, which was the front entrance of her human's apartment. She knew that she shouldn't have been so envious. Really, though, how could she just stand there and watch another woman try to take her boyfriend like that? Sure, she was dead, but that didn't make a bit a difference.

The ghost had no idea why this woman was here, or why she was trying to talk to Vince. If she hadn't have been a ghost, the dead bride would have marched into the room and demanded to know what was going on. In her day, a man wouldn't even think about cheating on his beloved. Maybe it was because she was dead…? Maybe she simply just wasn't good enough for him.

Only to make matters worse, Dana and Dominic had been feeding the fire. They were also under the impression that Vince invited this woman over of his own accord. Given that they had more audacity than the dead bride did, they were about ready to go over to the two humans and torment the living hell out of the alleged _other_ _woman_.

"Do ye want me ta go over t'ere and show th' tosser a lesson or two? 'Coz I ain't afraid ta," Dominic practically growled as he stared at the scene over the brunette's head.

Jamie puffed her cheeks up and curled her fingers in slightly. "No thank you, I don't think that'll be necessary."

Vince was panicking at that moment. He saw his ghost girl and her goonies watching them, he just hoped that they didn't get the wrong impression about this. Leslie brought _her_ here. Speaking of which, where was she? Maybe she could help distract this chick while he explained everything to Jamie. From the looks of it… she wasn't happy…

The woman his parents picked out for him was a cute little strawberry blonde with freckles and eyes the size of saucers. She was the daughter of one his parent's friends. They went to school together, and, sure, she was nice. Heck, they even dated before. But he had his own girl. He worked too hard to get her. There was no way that he'd screw up now.

"Look, Megan, you're a sweet girl, but that part of our lives is done. I don't feel like that towards you anymore," the blue-eyed cop began, feeling his ghost girl boring a hole into him, even from the distance between them.

"_Anymore_?" Jamie shrieked fervently. She looked back at Dana, who smiled at her sympathetically.

"They used to date back in high school. Vince was the one who broke it off in the first place, so I dunno why she's here in the first place…" the teenaged ghost pursed her lips together, trying to come up with a plausible scenario.

"Sounds like more a reason to go out there and smack 'em ta me," Dominic grumbled under his breath, and then turned to his girl, "I never really liked either one o' 'em."

Dana kissed her ghost boyfriend's cheek and patted it gently. "I know. But maybe we're just over exaggerating."

Leslie walked up to the three ghouls a moment later, chuckling at the sight. "Are we enjoying the show, peeps?" She asked quietly, stretching on her tiptoes to look over Dana's head. "He still talking to her?"

"I'd just liked to know whose bright idea this was in the first place," Jamie began, her pout only becoming more prominent.

"It was our mother's. Seeing how she doesn't know about you, she wants Vince to have a girlfriend. And… since they dated previously," the younger Faraday sighed, "I'm really sorry about that. But you know how crazy Vince is about you, right?"

The dead bride shrugged. "I guess I do. But… that's just the problem in and of itself, isn't it?"

"Wot do ye mean, li'l bird?" Dominic asked, casting a dark look back at the elder Faraday.

"I just mean that… maybe he's better off with a human, you know? At least he'll be happy. And I'm sure his parents will be happy as well," Jamie looked over at Leslie, who had a sad smile on her face.

"You and my brother are perfect for each other, no matter what anyone else says. So what that you're a ghost? Mom and dad will just have to get over the fact that Vince won't be able to give them grandchildren. They'll probably be curious as to why he never got married, but… well, what can they say? It's not like forced marriages are popular around here anymore."

"I know, but I want him to be happy," the brunette ghost replied in a quiet tone, already having seen enough. Then she walked through the wall, disappearing from sight.

Dominic scrunched up his face in Vince's general direction and balled up a fist. "Can I go punch 'im in the head now?"

"No!" Dana smacked him in the back of the head and dragged him into the wall by the ear. "We've gotta go check on Jamie."

Leslie sighed to herself. Vince was a dead man. And she didn't even know about their plan to kill her brother so that they could go to the underworld…

The elder Faraday child let out a sigh of relief as his ex-girlfriend left the apartment in a bit of a huff. Now he had to deal with his current girlfriend, who was probably ready to smack the hell out of him. When he came up to his sister, she just shook her head at him.

"Where'd Jamie go?" Vince asked, looking around the room a little frantically.

"Through the wall," the younger blonde gave him a look, "you know, she's pretty upset right now."

"Yeah. Which is why you're coming with me to straighten this out," he began, yanking his sister by the arm.

"Ow! Vince, you moron, that hurts!" Leslie shrieked as her older brother pulled her along. It wasn't _her_ fault! Not like she invited Megan over for coffee and cookies…

Vince looked around the hallway he had seen his girlfriend at before, only to realize she had gone. His panic had practically doubled when he noticed that the other two ghouls were gone as well. They probably made Jamie want to break up with him, or something equally as horrible.

"Where do you think she would be?" the younger sibling looked at her brother before continuing, "think, bro. Your girlfriend is upset. Where would she be hiding out? You know her better than I do."

The blue-eyed cop paused for a moment as he considered his sister's question. There weren't many rooms that she could hide in, as this apartment was only so big. She wouldn't be hiding in the bathrooms, and she wouldn't be hiding in Leslie's bedroom. As Vince headed for his bedroom, he tried to collect himself the best that he could. He needed to prepare a speech as fast as he could. And probably write a will…

Being the kindhearted young woman that she was, the twenty-year-old followed him. Call her… emotional support, or something profound like that.

When the two Faradays came into the bedroom, they felt the cold that was usually associated with their ghouls. Vince looked around the room, only to find no one there. Someone _was_ in there, but they just didn't want to show themselves. He knew that it couldn't have been Dana or Dominic; they never hid from anyone. Jamie only showed herself when she needed to.

"Jamie, baby, I know you're in here. Please just show yourself so we can talk. I sent Megan away, she's not who I want to be with, trust me!" the blonde police officer practically pleaded. He kept darting his eyes around the room, looking for any sort of change that could signify his ghost's appearance.

The dead bride was sitting down on her human's bed, wiping away the tears that had begun to fall quite rapidly. Her tattered princess-style skirt was fluffed out in front of her as she sat there trying to keep any more tears from falling. Every so often, she would fiddle with the rips throughout the skirt, worsening her mood. When she saw her human come into the room, she didn't even know what to do anymore.

"He's right, you know," Leslie began, "and our mom was the one who wanted me to bring her here in the first place. We had to appease her; otherwise, she'd never leave us alone about it. Vince loves you."

Jamie let out a deep sigh and decided that it was time to show herself again. As certain parts of her became visible, she replied, "and I love him too. I just want to be sure that this is the best idea for him. He'll have to give up on a lot for me."

"Don't you think that this is something that we need to decide on together?" Vince asked, plopping down on the bed next to his ghost girl.

"Not if it's in your best interest," the ghost bride whispered, her eyes meeting with her human's in that same moment.

"But you are my best interest, don't you see?" the blue-eyed cop began, fighting the urge to lunge forward and kiss her senseless. That wouldn't do either of them any good. Especially since it could never happen while he was still human. "What's made you revert like this?"

"Your mother thinks that you need a girlfriend. And obviously she knows what's best for you," Jamie began, tears prickling the corners of her eyes.

"She doesn't know what's best because she doesn't know about you. If she did know about you, there would be no doubt in her mind whether I'm happy or not," Vince smiled rather sadly as the ghost girl curled up against his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso tightly. He would give anything to be able to cradle her, or just be able to rub her back consolably.

"I really hope that you're right. I _want_ this. With you, I'll finally have some form of a 'happily ever after'. Without you…" the brunette ghost shuddered at the thought of what she would be doing without her Prince Charming.

Leslie smiled at the couple and slowly backed away and out of the room. She didn't need to interrupt a moment like this. And, after all, they needed the time to talk everything out. That probably didn't include Vince's younger sister hanging around the sidelines.

As she shut the bedroom door, the couple looked up in the general direction that it came from. They appreciated the alone-time. Then their eyes met, which brought them back to the situation at hand.

Jamie could tell that her boyfriend was kicking himself over the fact that he couldn't touch her like he wanted to. And, in the same respect, she was kicking her own self. She wanted to give her human everything that he could possibly want. It bothered her immensely that she couldn't do something so small as letting him touch her. Maybe that would be the purity of their relationship, but there would always be a nagging reminder of what their relationship lacked.

The brunette ghost had been thinking over Dana and Dominic's offer to go to the underworld with them. However, that would entail Vince dying. He would _never_ see his family again. It was either Jamie or his family, when it came right down to it. And she wouldn't dare make that kind of decision for him.

"Vince, I want to talk to you about something," Jamie began, a little unsurely.

"I'm all ears," her human began with a gentle smile tugging at his lips.

"I've been thinking about Dana and Dominic's offer. I know that it's insane, but I just want to know what you think of it," the ghost bride eyed the twenty-three-year-old carefully, sincerely hoping that she wouldn't regret bringing this up.

"Well," Vince sighed, "my biggest thing is leaving my family. The thought of my parents having to bury _me_ is just unnerving. And my sister… she wouldn't even understand."

"Then we can say no, Vince," Jamie looked up at her human and raised a hand to gently caress his cheek. "I want you to be happy. I don't want you to die. It's… it's horrible being a ghost."

"I know. It's just… I hate not being able to touch you. I'm happy staying human, yes, but that's one thing that'll always bother me. I dunno if you feel the same," the blue-eyed cop shrugged his shoulders, feeling somewhat selfish about whining that he can't touch his girlfriend.

Jamie shook her head. "You have no idea. When I lean against you, it's like I'm alive again," the brunette smiled just a little bit, "I can feel alive just for that one moment when I hear your heartbeat… but it's never enough. I want warm arms around me, and warm lips against mine. I just can't bear myself to take your life away."

"We'll just have to deal with this in some other way. What we don't have in one aspect of our relationship makes up for another. At least we'll be together, right?" Vince began, instinctively reaching over to play with her hair, only to cut through thin air. The blonde police officer shook his head as he took his hand back, a deep sigh escaping his lips. Boy, this was going to take a lot of effort, wasn't it?

The dead bride kissed her human's cheek, which felt like a feather tickling against him. With that being said, it still brought a smile to his face.

Some things were just worth making exceptions for.

**That's it for this chapter, folks. You know what to do. **


	5. Someone's Watching Over Me

**Back to The Afterlife again. Whew, writing three fics at once is just like work! Whoda thunk it? **

**I'd like to thank XxDeathStarxX, IronAmerica, and Troll99 for reviewing last chapter!**

**I own nothing. **

_**The Afterlife- Chapter Five: Someone's Watching Over Me**_

Everyone knew about fate. No matter what, it always made sure to make the best, or sometimes the worst, out of every situation. We all have one particular path that we start out on, but the people in our life that steer us away from that original path were planned just as much as the original ones were.

For Vince Faraday, he thought that he was a normal guy. He had an average job, working usually average hours and getting average pay. There weren't many things in his life that could be described as extraordinary, that was for sure. But when he met Jamie Fleming's ghost on that castle tour, the ordinary aspects of his life became extraordinary little by little.

The police officer never thought that he'd be in a relationship with a ghost. However, that was a twist in his lifelong path. Unfortunately, the same twist would also lead him to his death, not even giving him enough time to ponder properly about what the afterlife would be like for him and his ghost girl.

Suddenly, the word forever never seemed so frightening.

o—o—o

Vince went into work every day with the constant reminder in the back of his mind that he could die at any time in his line of work. Though it never really sunk in well enough until the situation had finally come and gone. Not only had he been in a dangerous shooting, but he was also killed in the dangerous shooting. He turned his back for one second while out at the scene, and in that one second, he lost his life to a stray bullet.

The first call was made to Leslie Faraday; in any event of her older brother getting injured or worse on duty, she was the first person that they would ever call. They had called her before because he had landed in the hospital, but it was never this bad. When the younger sibling answered the phone, she grabbed her car keys and was prepared to go to the hospital to see what her blockhead of a brother had done this time. She lost the grip she had on the keys when his fellow police officers told her the earth shattering news.

Her brother was _dead_. Tears stung her eyes as she hung up the phone, threatening to spill as quickly as they came. And now it was all up to her to tell _everyone_ else. And, yes, that included their parents and… oh God, that included Jamie, too.

"Wot's wrong ducky?" came from behind her, startling the young blonde out of her thoughts. She straightened up and turned around, it not even fazing her that a ghost was talking to her.

"Something happened to Vince, Dominic. He was shot about an hour ago," Leslie clenched a fist as the tears began to trail down her cheeks. "They… they took him to the hospital and tried to resuscitate him, but… it was too late. He died about… fi—five minutes ago." She felt a hand settle on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. When she turned her head to see who it was, she saw the strawberry blonde ghost giving her a sad, sympathetic smile.

"I can't express how truly sorry I am for your loss, but you should know that he's not alone right now. Jamie's with him, probably still in the hospital. It takes us a little while to cross from our bodies," Dana began, her own eyes tearing up as she stared back at the older blonde's shimmering blue eyes.

"Is—is he happy?" Leslie asked, biting her lip to diminish the tears that fell from her eyes.

"Go up there and you'll see for yourself. Bring your parents too; I'm sure they'll want to see their son," the teenaged redhead suggested, giving the human's shoulder another gentle squeeze.

The twenty-year-old let out a deep sigh and dragged an arm across her eyes, smearing her already ruined make-up. Today just possibly couldn't get any worse. She wanted to smack her brother so hard right now! Why the hell did he have to leave her? He was perfectly content to be with his ghost girlfriend while he was alive, why did he have to _die_?!

o—o—o

Jamie Fleming was far from the point of caring if another human saw her. She had her hand clasped in her humans as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Somehow she felt like her human's death was all her fault. She was there with him when it happened. Couldn't she have forced the bullet away from him? Couldn't she have done _something_?!

The ghost girl looked up at her lifeless human. He had been stripped bare-chested, gauze taped to his right peck where the bullet had entered. The doctors and nurses on-call were working around her to take him off the respirator and heart monitors they had him on for the little while that he had been fighting for his life.

But what was even harder to see than her dead boyfriend, was the looks of his family when they came into the hospital to confirm the worst phone call in the history of history. Vince sr., his wife Laura and Leslie all had looks of horror on their faces as they saw the oldest child being detached from the wires that failed to keep him alive, even for a short period.

The younger Faraday sibling was the one who could see the ghost girl standing over Vince, tears steadily trailing down her cheeks. Leslie looked up at both of her parents. If only they could see her, the twenty-year-old had never seen someone love her brother as much as that ghost did. Leslie smiled sadly over at Jamie as their eyes met.

"Are you Officer Faraday's family?" one of the nurses asked, a glum expression in place. She stepped closer to the family, shielding them from witnessing the other nurses draping the sheet over their loved one's body.

"We are," Laura spoke through her sobs. "I'm his mother and this is his father and his younger sister."

The nurse sent them a small, sad smile. "Then I'm sorry for your loss. But we do need you to fill a few things out, if that's alright?"

The older woman smiled a watery smile. "That's okay. May we say goodbye first?"

"Of course. Just meet me at the receptionist desk once you've said your goodbyes. And again, I'm very sorry for your loss," the nurse padded out of the room, wanting to give this family the privacy that they needed. That was the worst thing about her job…

Jamie tensed up just a bit as her human's family came up to him. She decided to stay on the other side of his bed, just so that they could have room to say their goodbyes. The brunette was lucky; she could be with him in the afterlife, opposed to his family who would never see him alive again.

Leslie stood next to Jamie and they both watched the elder Faradays sob over their son's body. It was so incredibly hard to watch for both girls. No one understood why it had to happen like this. Not even the ghost had an answer. It pained her to watch this; she was waiting on him to manifest to her outside of his body. Where they would go from there wasn't quite clear yet.

Not too long had passed before Vince had manifested in his ghost form. He met with his girlfriend's eyes and silently told her to hold on. Jamie stood back and just watched as he went over to each of his family and hugged them goodbye, even though no one but Leslie would know what was going on.

The younger Faraday sibling looked up at her brother, wide eyed at the sight of his ghost. She mouthed to him so that their parents wouldn't call her crazy, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Tell mom and dad not to cry. I'm happy where I am, but I'll always come back to visit whenever I can," Vince began, making his way over to his girlfriend, taking her gently by the hand. He smiled at the contact. It was firm and it was _there_.

"Leslie, dear, are you alright?" Laura asked; she was concerned for her daughter, who was steadily losing color in her tan cheeks.

The younger blonde jerked her head back to look at her mother. "I'm… I'll be okay. Still in shock, I guess," she replied quietly. When her mother came over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Leslie added, "mom, Vince wants you to know that he's happy. He's finally found someone that makes him happy."

Laura gave her daughter a confused look. "Darling, what do you mean?"

A few more tears languidly slid down the young girl's face as she watched her brother disappear with his ghost girl, hand-in-hand. Though she was in the dire need of her big brother right now, she just smiled.

o—o—o

Vince wasn't sure how he did it, but he walked away from his family. He had just hoped that his parents would take his advice and stop grieving over him. Sure, it sucked that he died, but… he had an afterlife to look forward to now. There was no way that he'd be able to stay away from his family, he knew that. At least Leslie did try to tell them that he was happy. That would, hopefully, be enough until he could prove it to them. Vince swore that he would make believers out of his parents yet.

Now, though, here he was back at the apartment complex he and his sister used to live in, before the tragedy stuck. It was time to take the next step. The deal between Dana, Dominic, Vince and Jamie was that the four of them would stay in the underworld unless it was time to pay the real world a visit again. Before the deceased police officer had died, he hadn't really seen a reason for the dead to move on after they passed. But… now, it all started to make sense. There really was nothing there for ghosts in the real world anymore. There were the relatives of the dead, of course. Though half of the time they were either too scared, they didn't want to believe, or they were trying to get the ghosts to do tricks or some crap like that.

Vince would visit his relatives, sure, but that was just about it. He was actually curious about this whole "afterlife" anyways.

"So you're absolutely sure this time? 'Cause traveling to the underworld is going to be one hell of a ride," Dana began, looking at the other three ghosts, grinning at some private joke, "no pun intended."

Jamie glanced over at her ghost boyfriend who had yet to let go of her hand. "Are you sure this is what you want? We could stay here with Leslie. That way you at least have _some_ contact with your family."

"I'm sure," Vince responded, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Seeing my family cry over my death in the hospital really got to me. I… I just can't watch them go through their grieving period. We can come back and visit them; I hadn't planned on leaving them for good. Just until they've had enough time to get over it _some_."

The brunette ghost stroked her thumb across his palm. "At least you do have a choice in this." She was distracted and Vince knew exactly why.

"Conrad isn't going to lay a finger on you, alright?" He told her, gently cupping her face. Vince absolutely loved the way her skin felt. Like satin, almost. "I know that's what you're worried about, isn't it?"

Jamie just nodded absently. "You know me too well."

The deceased police officer smiled at that and leant forward to kiss her temple. "I guess that's my gift."

The dead bride was often jealous of Dana and Dominic's relationship. They had the physical aspect of it, but hers and Vince's relationship had only been one-sided. Now that her own boyfriend could finally touch her, she was ecstatic.

"Okay well I love your gift," she began, a tiny smile playing at her lips.

"And I love you," Vince gave her a few quick kisses, to which the high school sweethearts cleared their throats.

"Maybe you two can get a separate cabin on the train. But, right now, we need an answer," Dana gave them both looks that were fit for indecisive children.

"Oh they're gettin' a separate cabin, a'right. If I have to deal with 'is whining all the way to the underworld, I'm gonna chuck him off the train," Dominic grumbled to his girlfriend, feeling some sort of déjà vu in the works.

"Thanks Dom. I appreciate it," Vince threw back at him bitterly.

"Anytime, li'l gnome," Dominic gave the other ghost a mocked salute, which got him a whack in the stomach from his girlfriend.

"If you two don't play nice it's _you_ two that will be sleeping in the same cabin," Dana quirked an eyebrow, daring either of them to say something. When both of them tensed up and grinned sheepishly back at their girls, they just celebrated their victory with a high-five.

This was going to be a crazy afterlife if Dana and Jamie decided to back each other up on _everythin_g. But, somehow, the boys knew that this was exactly how they would be.

**Whew! After a long day at work, I finally conclude the chapter. Until next time, lovely shippers. **


	6. Crazy Train

**Greetings fellow earthlings! I come with a new chappie. **

**Many thanks go out to my lovely reviewers. I, of course, am not awesome enough to own The Cape. If I **_**did**_**, well… Vinwell would be far from just implied. **

_**The Afterlife- Chapter Six: Crazy Train**_

The road to the underworld was known to be a scary place. Not every train survived the whole ride through. Some just vanished, never to be heard from again. Others, the conductor just went crazy and decided to drive off a cliff. The trip wasn't something that was taken lightly. You either got there in one piece or you didn't. Dana and Dominic neglected to mention this to Vince and Jamie, probably because they didn't want them chickening out on them. But…really, with stories like _that_, could you blame them?

On the night that the four ghouls left for the ghost train on trolley route 12, neither Vince nor Jamie knew the insanity that was literally just around the corner. Until they came up to the train, they were actually pretty calm about the whole thing. The couple figured that the train ride would give them some peace and quiet. After the couple of days that they had, the two of them figured that they deserved it. Of course, that was before they saw the train. Said train was quite long, but the windows were hardly tinted. Dirt and grime covered them all, a few handprints indented on several of them. After having to squint a few times, the dead bride came to realize that there was _blood _on the windows as well. Some of them even had the blood splattered all over.

Somehow, Jamie thought as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand and squeezed it tightly, she figured that this train ride wasn't going to be peaceful and quiet, not by the littlest means.

o—o—o

"Um, Dana, are you sure this is _our_ train?" Jamie asked the other ghost girl, cutting her eyes over at her.

"Yep. This is the one," Dana bobbed her head, sounding absolutely calm. Her friend, on the other hand, was panicked. "What? Didn't I tell you that this was going to be one hell of a ride?"

"Yes, but… I didn't expect the train to look so—"

"Scary? So… crazy… so death trap-ish?" Vince supplied, getting a look from both ghost girls.

"Well, he does have a point," the teenaged redhead admitted sheepishly, staring straight ahead at the train. "Not everyone survives the trip to the underworld…"

Vince's jaw dropped to the floor and brought his girlfriend that much closer to him. "What do you mean not everyone survives?"

"Exactly what me li'l bird said—the conductors vary from time to time. Some o' 'em don't want us ghoulies crossin' o'er. Either the conductor drives the train off of a cliff, or we start going mad and start killin' each other," Dominic explained; despite the glares that he was getting, he remained calm. "'his time we won't come back, either."

"And, unfortunately, we won't know until we get in the train, whether we'll survive or not," Dana added for her boyfriend, "it's not like we're setting you up or anything, Vince. Because we just don't know."

"This is _so_ much better than staying at the apartment," Jamie deadpanned, glaring over at her ghost boyfriend. "I'm blaming this on you if we die again."

"What a way to remain optimistic, babe," Vince began, giving his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips.

"I do what I can, dear," the dead bride smirked a little and tugged on his hand. The four of them finally made their way to the train again, just in time to hear a disembodied voice echo through the tunnel. It was the conductor greeting the passengers and wishing them a _pleasant _trip. Vince had to roll his eyes at that bit. If what Dana and Dominic said was true, the last thing that they would be having was a pleasant trip.

As he and Jamie went into their separate cabin, he couldn't help but study his surroundings even closer than he would have ten minutes ago.

Everything seemed normal, for now.

o—o—o

Vince had a feeling that there was a reason behind the chorus to "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osborne being stuck in his head while boarding the train to the underworld. Of course, it didn't have to do _anything_ with the fact that the conductor was insane, literally; every so often, he would scream into the loudspeakers, frightening even the strongest spirits. Nor did it have to do with the random cackling, and the sharp turns that the train took—defying the laws of gravity.

During the first night of their stay, he couldn't sleep. Between the roaring conductor and the train itself, he just wasn't at ease. Jamie tried to reassure him that things were going to be okay, but the fact that he could tell that she wasn't sure about that was extremely unsettling.

By six that following morning, the cop had given up on sleep. His girlfriend finally dozed off, so he just decided to focus on his sleeping beauty, rather than the maniacal cackles and disembodied voices that traveled throughout the train. Vince had no idea how much longer the train ride would be, but he hoped that it wouldn't be too much longer. The blonde kind of liked being able to sleep…

On the second night, things hadn't been much better. But, instead of falling asleep like she did the previous night, Jamie decided to stay up with her honey. Vince decided very quickly that he wasn't going to even try to close his eyes. The brunette, in turn, suggested taking a walk. If nothing else, it could help tire him out to the point where he would _want_ to sleep, no matter what they saw.

However, neither of them were very prepared for the sight that they were about to see. Certain cabins contained certain curses, no matter who resided in them. Luckily for Vince and Jamie, no curse preexisted in their own. This didn't keep them from hitting hotspots, though. The couple walked by the first one while they were passing through hand-in-hand. There were about five spirits in the nearest cabin, and one of them was wielding a gun. The train to the underworld was a dangerous place. Either it killed you, or you were just damn lucky.

The blonde ghost pulled his girlfriend close as they hurried past the cursed cabin. You would have to have been deaf to ignore the activity going through that cabin. The couple just barely missed the gunfire that was responsible for four _real_ deaths and a suicide.

"Vince?" Jamie began, cringing at the next blood curdling shriek.

"Yeah, babe?" he offered, not daring to let go of her. He looked down at his girlfriend, only to be torn apart by a rough turn that the conductor pulled.

"Is it too late to get aboard a different train?" she asked quietly, the deceased cop helping her to her feet as quickly as he could scramble upwards.

"I wish it wasn't…" Vince shook his head, sparing her a tiny smile.

"Maybe we should head back to our cabin before someone tries to open fire on us? Or worse…" the dead bride's eyes grew as large as saucers at the next sudden booming cackle.

o—o—o

The trolley made its final stop at Trolley Park, or the underworld's version, anyways. There were two different versions of every place. There was Palm City, but there was also underworld Palm City. Two entirely identical places, just a place between the living and the dead.

Vince thought that he had been tricked when the train first came to a close; this looked exactly like Palm City, the blonde would be mad as hell if he went through that crazy train ride all for nothing.

Dana and Dominic had been having a ripping and roaring good time hearing about their counterparts' stories, the glory being that neither of them had hit a hotspot. (Of course, that would called for them leaving their cabin, which they refused to do, unlike _some_ they knew.)

"Hope everyone had a safe trip!" the conductor called back to the passengers as they climbed down the steps. His voice was normal for once, which was more than a little unsettling. "_But you won't be so lucky next time_!"

The deceased police officer cringed at the demonic voice, which was followed by a loud, maniacal cackle. "Uh, I think we need to go before the conductor decides to take off his head again…"

By the time the conductor drove past, his head was floating around the cabin, humming something quite eerie as it bounced from wall to wall.

Jamie looked back at her boyfriend and their two friends. "Does anyone think that—" she squeaked as her ghost boy picked her up bridal style and carried her far from where they stood before.

Once he deemed them at a safe distance, he turned to Dominic and asked, "do you know where we're going now?"

"There's a group of circus types that live just east of here. From what I've heard, maybe they can help us get settled in here," Dana offered, pulling herself closer to her high school sweetheart.

"You think they'll help us?" Jamie asked; she was a little worried about barging in on someone from the underworld. If any of them were like the conductor…

"It's better than not knowing where we're going, right?" the strawberry blonde smiled a little at the dead bride, which put her a little more at ease. Despite Jamie being the older one, Dana still had that maternal quality about her.

As the two couples made their way to the carnival tent, they were all sure of one thing; this sure as hell beat being back on the train…

o—o—o

The group of carnies was known as the Carnival of the Dead. They were actually quite interesting, if rumors were proved true. Max Malini was their ringleader, which was quite about right; not only was the oldest, but he was the wisest as well. Their acrobat Raia was known as "Team Mom" and she dealt with the animals the best. Her husband Ruvi was the best hypnotist in the underworld, despite his sour attitude. Lastly, there was Rollo, who was known for his temper just as much as his height. He was the carnival's muscleman.

When the two couples stepped into the tent, they noticed that the four were rehearsing for something, seemingly their next showing. Max noticed them not even a moment later and gawked at them. "Do we need a no loitering sign out here? The next show isn't until Friday!" he growled back.

"Whoa, we're not here for the show. Just… uh… looking for some directions, I guess?" Vince began, holding his hands up in a slight defense.

"Directions to where? This isn't the directory to the underworld, if that's what you think we are," Max grumbled. He hated tourists.

"Well… we don't have anywhere else to go. So if you could tell us where we could find someplace, that'd be great," the deceased cop gave the magician a weak grin, hoping to get some form of an answer.

Raia, being the motherly figure that she was, started paying attention at that moment. Not to mention that the blonde guy was a cutie…

"You don't have anywhere to go?" she asked the group, though she was staring directly at Vince.

"Well, not really. We have no idea where _to_ go. I just died yesterday, so we haven't been in the underworld for very long. An hour, maybe," he added, hooking an arm around his girlfriend's waist.

Raia turned to Max, who caught on quite quickly. "And why should I offer to keep these goons housed when they haven't given me anything to prove themselves?"

"You did say that we needed to spice up our act somehow, right?" the acrobat looked back at the couples. "Do you four have any talents?"

"I used to take dancing lessons," Jamie offered with a small smile.

Dana was trying to keep her boyfriend calm. For well-understood reasons, he wasn't too fond of staying at a circus. "My boyfriend doesn't have fond memories of the circus, so… maybe he could collect tickets, or something?"

"I don't have many talents, actually. I used to be a cop before I died, but that's about it," Vince answered, a sheepish smile in place. For someone who was trying to prove themselves worthy, he sure wasn't doing a very good job of it.

Max looked over at Rollo, who just started grinning at that. "We'll throw you in the ring with Rollo for now. If anything you can get beat up by the little guy until you think of something else to do."

"You mean…?" the dead bride asked, a tiny smile stretching across her face.

The magician nodded, despite the heavy sigh that escaped his lips. "Welcome to the Carnival of the Dead, my dear."

**And we finally have the end of that chapter. Wanna see something else? There **_**is**_ **a comment box, after all. Unfortunately, we only have two more updates, so don't be shy!**


	7. Take What's Left Of Me

**Issanupdate! Okay, so I know that none of you will be quite happy to hear this, but I've decided to work on these last two chapters before moving on to IYOK or TMSoV. I've got another fic in the works and I need to get the fic up before the show comes back from its summer break. Once IYOK is done, however, I do plan on bringing you another Cape Multi-chap. **

**Anyways, thanks to my three lovely reviewers. I own nothing. **

_**The Afterlife- Chapter Seven: Take What's Left Of Me**_

Jamie and her ghostly friends had finally found a home. While it wasn't their dream to be living with a bunch of circus folk, at least they had somewhere to go to and a warm bed to sleep in. Mostly, everyone was fitting in with the routine. There was practice for the showings, and then there was time to goof around. The only one in the group that was having a hard time with this however was Dominic.

Dana hadn't mentioned much about her boyfriend's past, but if Jamie could guess, she would say that he had issues with carnivals, or carnie types, at the very least. He refused to join the act, other than to hand out tickets on opening night. (The first, and last incidentally, time Max tried to get Dominic to join the act, he sported a dislocated shoulder and a black eye for about a week. No one tried to put Dominic Raoul in a cage without a fair fight.)

The dead bride would have loved to find out exactly why he was so guarded around the Carnival of The Dead, but she supposed that that would come out all in good time. What she _did _know, though, was that her boyfriend was having a great time in the underworld. While he still missed his family like crazy, he had the love of his life by his side. Vince's part of the act involved a magical cape that could be used as an actual weapon, if it got into the wrong hands. As it stood now, it was just being used as a prop; no one misused it, and no one got hurt because of it. The deceased cop was having a ball and a half with it. He could finally be the "superhero" that he always wanted to be growing up.

Overall, it seemed like things were looking up for the four ghouls. Unfortunately, there was one little issue that everyone seemed to have forgotten about, and that was Conrad Chandler.

o—o—o

Conrad Chandler had been counting the days since he had seen his dead bride. After one strategic plan failing after another, he was getting rather tired of waiting for her. He had even gotten his own set of lackeys to watch for any signs of the Fleming heir. The day that his henchmen got the word about Jamie Fleming's appearance in the underworld, they wasted no time at all to tell Conrad. It was easy enough, seeing how the decoy had originally been a part of the Carnival of The Dead. But when they heard of the reward Conrad was offering, plus the promise of protection under his toxin, it was like Christmas for this rogue carnie.

None of the others saw it coming. Jamie had trusted this carnie; in fact, everyone had. When he asked for her help, she was willing to give it to him without a second thought. Of course, she wasn't expecting to be breathing in the same toxin that had aided in her death over a hundred years ago. No one heard a thing as she was whisked away to her dead groom.

Jamie was brought to Conrad only minutes later, fear swelling in her lifeless heart. She was in the exact place that she had been born in, raised in, died in, and was rescued from. The one place that she had been working so hard to get away from all of her undead life, she was brought back to. This time, her handsome prince had no idea she was even taken.

As the dead bride drifted off to sleep, tears began to pool in her eyes. She was just as helpless as she was the last time, if not more now that Conrad had been tweaking with his concoction. This time, your mind would play tricks on you, even if you were a ghost…

o—o—o

Vince stared in the general direction of the alcove that his girlfriend disappeared into a little over fifteen minutes ago. No matter _what_ what's-his-face, (the deceased cop didn't care to remember this guy's name. He made _Ruvi_ look angelic…), needed his girlfriend's help with, it shouldn't have taken this long.

Rollo had been trying to get the blonde's attention, but he had been focused solely on his girlfriend's safety. The muscleman tried to yell at him quite a few times, but ended up throwing something at his head instead. Needless to say _that_ got his attention.

"What?" Vince threw back defensively. "I didn't do it, honest!"

"We're trying to get you back down to the underworld with us. Can't really continue practicing without you, and you know how grouchy Max gets," Rollo told him, and then sent a grin back at the ringleader.

"Guys, this all joking around is all fine and good, but does anyone else think that Jamie's been gone a little too long?" the deceased cop asked, worry lines evident on his forehead.

Raia pressed her lips together in a thin line as she thought about that for a moment. "He does have a point… if it would take this long, I'm sure Dean would have gotten one of us to help him. We do know our way around here."

"That's it; I'm going to see what this prick has gotten my girl into." Vince grumbled something obscene under his breath as he started to walk towards the alcove, "go on without me," the late police officer threw over his shoulder, "I'm sure I can catch up somehow."

He had many possibilities running through his head at that moment; if there was anything he was sure of, though, it would be that his ghost girl was in some sort of distress, but she couldn't call out for help. As Vince walked further into the alcove, he expected to find her. When he didn't, however, there was only one thought on his mind. And that was how to get away with killing a ghost for good…

The deceased cop reached a dead end in the alcove, every ounce of common sense telling him that this was a bad idea. He ended up being too late, in the end. Jamie had been taken; now he was stuck at square one again. Even then, rescuing the girl was his top priority, no matter how many times they had to go through this.

o—o—o

Jamie wasn't that fond of sleeping without her ghost boy. (It probably had something to do with the fact that was dead and really didn't need it, but that was beside the point.) When the paralytic entered her system, it knocked her out almost instantly. Since the… how long _had_ she been under this? Well, however long it was, she had been dreaming some painfully real scenarios. The hardest one to swallow was her and Vince's wedding. Every girl had their own wedding planned out in their heads; even though it changed every few years, the girl still looked forward to that fateful day. Jamie Fleming had died on hers.

However, here she was, dreaming about herself in a beautiful fit-n-flare gown, walking down her aisle of sand. She hadn't needed shoes for her wedding; the brunette could almost remember telling someone in her dream world that she just wanted to feel the sand between her toes, despite the random seashells that would ruin the effect. The funny thing about ghosts? They could feel each other and humans, but everything else was just a numb sensation. Jamie could _never_ feel the sand between her toes, even if she did have an immaculate wedding like this, it wouldn't do her any good.

But, what was worse, being stuck in the best dream of your life, or being aware of your surroundings? Conrad had decided that throwing her around like a ragdoll wasn't as satisfying as actually going through the wedding, and _then_ having the satisfaction of killing his "blushing bride". He wasn't worried about any interruptions. Anyone that came within a close distance to the castle would get a lethal dose of the drug. It wouldn't kill them, of course, but it would make them forget whose side they were originally on. How _else_ would Conrad have gotten his own henchmen?

According to Conrad, when Vince and the others would come looking for Jamie, they would have no idea of what hit them.

o—o—o

Vince didn't even have to think very hard about who would take his girlfriend, and why. There was only one ghost that would harm her like this, and that would be Conrad Chandler. The blonde cop chuckled bitterly to himself; no matter what dimension, that jackass would always be trying to take his girl away from him. She was _his_, dammit! And look at just how hard he worked at to get her in the first place… there was no way in hell that he would let Chandler take her back. Vince looked at himself in the mirror as he pulled his cape hood over his head; for this occasion, Max had lent him Kevlar, just to be safe. While he wasn't really keen on him using the cape for violence, there wasn't really much more he could do. And, if there was anything that Max Malini believed in, it was keeping a family unit close.

The caped ghost asked his carnie friends to come along with him for moral support, if nothing else. At least that way he had an extra set of eyes, and an extra set of ears times six.

Jamie didn't even have the slightest idea that her ghost boy was on his way to rescue her. She was still deep in her slumber, dreaming of a painfully real feeling reality. She had walked down the aisle with pride; if she had a choice, she would want to stay in this alternate universe. Here, they were alive and well. Here, she didn't have to worry about a jealous ex-fiancé that had power hungry tendencies. It was just her and Vince. Dana and Dom had been there, too. And her parents… and the carnival.

_Jamie smiled to herself as she came up on her husband. They had just moved into their beach home a few months before the wedding. In fact, that was the whole reason why they decided to have the wedding on the beach, anyway. It was close to home and it wasn't as expensive as it would be to rent out a church or any other building for the ceremony. _

_Vince was standing out on the balcony to their upstairs bedroom. The balcony gave a beautiful view of the water and the pier on the other side that always seemed to be filled with fishermen and their families. The alternate version of her dead boyfriend turned to see the brunette, a smile growing on his face. "Hey you," he told her gently. _

"_Hi, Vince," Jamie replied just above a whisper. She had no idea how long ago it was since their wedding, but that much didn't matter right now. The formerly dead bride smiled as she saw the wedding band that was a perfect fit on his hand. _

_Vince took his wife into his arms and kissed her hair. "I was just thinking about you."_

"_Mmm. That's always nice to know," the brunette chuckled quietly, "good things, I hope?"_

"_Always good things," her husband grinned down at her brilliantly, swiftly catching her lips with his own. His hands were tangled in her head full of hair, as their kiss grew deeper. The breeze picked up of its own accord, dancing around the embracing couple. _

_Jamie met with his eyes and pecked at his lips once more. Why couldn't things always be like this? She gripped him even tighter as she heard Conrad's voice enter her head. _As quickly as she drifted off to sleep, she woke up in Conrad's embrace.

He had her at a close proximity, a dead preacher sputtering out useless vows for them to agree to.

The dead bride's eyes flooded with tears and she dug her nails into the deformed ghost's arm, trying to break free from his grasp. Conrad growled at Jamie and jerked her back by the hair. Neither of them could feel the pain, but they could feel the touch.

"…as long as you both shall live together in the afterlife?" the preacher finally concluded, looking directly at Conrad, who was seething with anger.

"I do," he began through gritted teeth.

Jamie's teary eyes grew wider as the preacher began with the same speech that he had given the irate ghost. She could only hope that her ghost boy would be by soon to save the day.

Directly on cue with the last little bit of the vow, Vince extended his cape to yank Conrad off of his feet in one swift motion. As the deformed ghost collided with the floor, Jamie turned her head, trying to rein in her sobs of relief. She couldn't even stand, as an after effect of the paralytic. The dead bride leaned against the wall to keep herself upright and watched as her ghost boyfriend extended the cape once more to bring Conrad closer to him.

When Vince's gloved fist collided with Conrad's, the Chandler heir toppled to the ground at the force. This was where the carnies came into play. Dominic scooped him off of the ground and dragged him out of the room. No one worried about Conrad trying to fight back because of the backup that the teenaged ghost had. With Max and Rollo's help, Chandler was sent back to the train. This time, though, the conductor was paid _extra_ to make sure that he didn't come back.

As the former cop hurried over to his girlfriend, the preacher just looked around, feeling helpless as could be.

"Well… I suppose the wedding is off?" he replied quite timidly.

Vince looked down at Jamie as he took her into his arms. "Yeah, I think that was my way of an objection," he chuckled half-heartedly. More importantly, he had his ghost girl and he always would.

The brunette began to drift off again as she was scooped up bridal style and carried away from the castle that had been her prison for so long.

**So, what'd you think? You know how to let me know! Epilogue is up next, stay tuned. **


	8. Epilogue: Together In Death

**I seriously cannot believe that we're at the epilogue already. (Okay, so I planned for it to be done early, but so what?) You know the drill, at the end of this chapter, I'll ask for your favorite moment/chapter in the story.**

**I own nothing, but I'd love to thank my reviewers who have helped me along the way. **

_**The Afterlife- Chapter Eight: Epilogue: Together In Death**_

After Jamie was brought back to the carnival, she decided to lay low for the next few days. Not that Vince would let her get up and walk around, anyways. He watched her like a hawk and made sure that she was well cared for. He would be damned if his girlfriend was suffering on his watch. (Just Vince being there helped her, but he still didn't believe that that made it alright for her to resume life like normal just yet.

The dead bride hallucinated up until about a week after she was drugged. While she was happy to see the world as it was supposed to be again, Jamie had a feeling that this would be far from over.

Max and the others looked after the brunette whenever they could, but Vince would tell them that he could handle it; he gave her gentle caresses whenever she was having bad hallucinations, he'd hold her hand and tell her that it would all be okay. And… somehow, he made it better.

o—o—o

Vince couldn't stand to see his girlfriend in her current state. She was thrashing around in her sleep, mumbling incoherently. The only coherent words he could hear were "don't" and "stop". From the tears sliding down her cheeks, to the way her body turned from side to side, obviously trying to squirm away from someone or something, the deceased cop barely knew what to do. The only form of comfort he could give her was his thumb stroking against her arm as lied next to her.

As she stirred awake, a sharp gasp escaped her lips. Her eyes began to water over as her eyes focused on her boyfriend. "Vince? Am I awake?" she whispered.

"Hey, take it easy," the deceased cop scooted closer to her and caressed her cheek. "And yes, baby, you're awake."

Jamie sat up and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck, sobbing quietly. It took her a good, long moment to regain her composure. "Is Conrad gone?"

"We took care of him, don't worry," Vince told her rather gently, running a hand up and down her back. "He won't ever be bothering us again."

The brunette nodded weakly, her lips shaking over the sobs that she was trying to hold back. "He took my life away from me, Vince. On the night that was supposed to be the happiest night of my life, he killed me!" Her sobs started up again, wracking through her whole body.

"I know. And I promise that I'm going to make it up to you somehow. It won't be much, but I promise you that I'll make your afterlife be exactly what you _deserve_," the cop's ghost pecked at her lips, "you deserve to be loved unconditionally, and to have someone to love just the same."

Jamie stared over at Vince through her tears and tried to rein in her sobs. She nuzzled herself into his neck and took a deep breath to try to calm down. "And I have that someone," she smiled into his neck, "he's pretty awesome."

The blonde let out a lighthearted chuckle and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend tightly. "Who's this guy, and where is he at so I can kick his ass for stealing my girl?"

She giggled quietly, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "It'll be hard because that guy is you, silly."

"Always hated that guy," Vince murmured into Jamie's hair, trying to fight a chuckle.

"Really?" the dead bride asked, picking her head up to smile at her boyfriend, "because I always loved that guy."

He grabbed her by the chin and pulled her closer, kissing her soundly. He couldn't think of anything to say to that; Vince knew that he loved this girl, knew that he had from the first time he saw her. As he pulled away from the kiss ever so slightly, it occurred to him just _how_ he could make everything up to Jamie.

"What's wrong?" the brunette whispered against his lips, "why'd you stop kissing me?" she added in a slight whine.

"Jamie, what would you say if I asked you to marry me?" Vince saw his girl's expression change, "after you get better, of course. I want you have the dream wedding that you were denied a hundred years ago."

"I—I wouldn't know what to say, to be honest. I do want to marry you, but really, will it do us any good? It'll never be real," Jamie replied sadly, her eyes wavering back at him with a slight shimmer in them.

"It'll be real to us," Vince told her, slipping his fingers in between her own, nothing but love showing in his eyes.

The brunette nodded weakly and squeezed his hand. "You have no idea how good that idea sounds to me."

"I'll still call you Mrs. Faraday, if that's what you'd like," the blonde grinned down at her, pecking at her lips.

"I'd love that," Jamie whispered, a tiny grin spreading onto her own features, "Mr. Faraday."

Both ghosts melded their lips together in a kiss, sealing their conversation. If anything would lead to a speedy recovery, it would be the idea of finally having a wedding. Unfortunately, with ghosts, what you wore when you died could _never_ come off. Including the engagement ring she was forced to wear, as well as the tattered princess-styled wedding dress. But, some things just could never work out in the way that you wanted it to.

o—o—o

Jamie couldn't quite believe what was going on as she heard the wedding march theme sound throughout the Carnival of the Dead's home. Max had been asked if they could hold their wedding there, and he took it amongst himself to contact a deceased preacher to do the ceremony. They knew that using the preacher that had all met at the castle was out of the question; the last thing that they needed was for Jamie to think that she was hallucinating again.

Vince would have dropped dead from lack of oxygen if he had been alive right now. He was holding his breath as he watched his ghost girl walk down the aisle. He was still in his police uniform, but hey, at least it was still somewhat formal.

Dominic, his best man, smacked him in the back and sent him a teasing grin. Jamie had stopped in front of her soon-to-be husband, who was just staring in awe. She had called his name once or twice before the teenaged ghost decided to step in. Once it finally registered, Vince held his arm out for his bride, and she looped her arms through his without another thought.

The brunette thought that the phrase "so happy I could die" would fit in well with her emotions over finally getting married. Rather fortunately, though, she was already dead.

Her groom smiled over at her as they turned towards the preacher, commencing the ceremony. With as much crap as Jamie had gone through over the years, it was a wonder that she even trusted trying to get married again. This time, though, she was in love with her groom, and even in these tough circumstances, they were still glad to be getting this ceremony at all.

"We are gathered here today to bring this man and this woman together in holy matrimony…"

When the preacher began, Jamie Fleming felt the most alive that she ever had felt in over a hundred years.

o—o—o

_The conductor of the crazy train leading to and from the underworld loved getting bribes; it made it even easier when he decided that it was time to drop the train off of a bridge, preferably high ones. When he got money from a ghost kid with green scales—or, what he _thought_ were scales—the conductor began grinning like a maniac. _

"_You want me to kill my next set of passengers?" the conductor asked, giving Dominic a grin, which showed off his mouthful of sharp fangs. For a hundred bucks, who was complaining?_

"_Not your next set," the teenaged ghost corrected, "'ve got just one tosser in mind."_

_The maniac looked over at the other ghost, who appeared to be chained up in a nasty knot of locks. "This the guy?" _

_Dominic nodded. "I need you to make sure that he gets on this train and _never_ comes back," he replied, the slightest growl escaping his lips. _

_Conrad tensed up as the conductor walked over to him and sniffed him for... Whatever reason._

"_You've been a very naughty ghostie," the crazed conductor grinned up at the Chandler heir, grabbing him by the chains and pulling him onto the trolley. After throwing him inside, the crazy guy came down the steps and took his money from Dominic. _

"_Good doin' business wiv ye," Dominic shook the madman's hand, who began to start cackling. As the teenaged ghost left, he could hear the train taking off; the conductor's head popped off and flew around the train, going to torment the living hell out of Conrad. But what was even more satisfying was the CRASH sound as the train collided with a bridge and flipped over repeatedly until it finally hit its watery grave. _

Vince and Jamie could finally be together in peace. No one would ever try to split them up, especially not power hungry heirs. Even though the brunette had to wait for a hundred years to finally find her prince charming, it was so incredibly worth it.

And, after another hundred years, neither of them thought that much else would change.

**Well, there we have it. This has been a fun ride, lemme tell you. I hope it was just as satisfactory for my readers just as much as it was for me. If anyone has a snapshot they want me to do for this 'verse, don't be afraid to PM me! **

**Now, as a final closing note, what was your favorite moment, or your favorite chapter? **


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